This is a record of my journey as a Muslim. I used to be Catholic and belonged to a missionary organisation. After my conversion, I sat on the board of a Muslim converts' organisation and specialised in da'wah programmes, convert management, interfaith issues and apostasy cases. I am an initiate of a Sufi order. As such, the articles and writings tend to cover these areas.
All the Arabic and graphics could not have been done without the help of my wife, Zafirah.

Tuesday, 15 January 2013

Celebrating the Birth of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.)

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ
ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following is taken from “Celebrating the Birth of
the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.)” from
Shaykh ‘Ali Juma’ah.

The birth of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) was an Outpouring of Divine
Mercy in respect to human history. The
Qur’an Describes the presence of the Prophet (s.a.w.) as a Mercy to Mankind.

We Sent thee not, but as a
Mercy for all creatures. (Surah al-Anbiya’:107)

This Mercy is not limited as it encompasses
personal growth, self-purification, knowledge, guidance to the straight path,
and offering people a felicitous spiritual and material life. This Mercy is also not limited to a specific
historical circumstance; rather it stretches throughout the entirety of history.

As well as (to confer all
these benefits upon) others of them, who have not already joined them: and He
is Exalted in Might, Wise. (Surah al-Jumu’ah:3)

Celebrating the birth of the Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.) is amongst the best actions
and the best acts of drawing near to Allah (s.w.t.)
as it is an expression of happiness and love for the Prophet (s.a.w.) and love of the Prophet (s.a.w.) is from the fundamentals of
faith. It is narrated that he said in a
rigorously authentic hadits, “By the
One in whose hands is my soul, none of you truly possess faith until I am more
beloved to them than his parents and children.”, and he also said, “None of you
truly believe until I am more beloved to him than his parents, children, and
all people.”

Imam ibn Rajab (r.a.) wrote that love of the Prophet (s.a.w.) is from the fundamentals of faith, and it is equivalent to
loving Allah (s.w.t.), as the two are
associated. Allah (s.w.t.) has also Warned those who place love of anything else that
is natural to love such as kin, wealth, and homeland by Saying:

Say: If it be that your
fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your kindred; the wealth that
ye have gained; the commerce in which ye fear a decline; or the dwellings in
which ye delight ― are dearer to you than Allah or His Messenger or the
striving in His Cause; then wait until Allah Brings about His Decision: and
Allah guides not the rebellious. (Surah at-Tawbah:24)

And with regards having faith, when ‘Umar (r.a.) said to the Prophet (s.a.w.), “You are more beloved to me
than anything else except myself,” the Prophet (s.a.w.) responded, “‘Umar, until I am more beloved than even
yourself.”

‘Umar (r.a.)
then said “By Allah, you are more beloved to me than myself.”

The Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “It is now ‘Umar.”

Celebrating the birth of the Prophet (s.a.w.) is a form of celebrating him and
is an act that is absolutely established according to the shari‘ah as it is an act you rely on so as not to fall into error. Allah (s.w.t.)
has Made Known to the world the rank of His Prophet (s.a.w.) so He Made Known to the entire existence his name, his
prophetic commission, his spiritual rank, and his place with Him. Therefore the universe is in constant
happiness and absolute bliss as a result of the Light of Allah (s.w.t.), His Relief, His Proof, and His Blessing
to the world. Our pious ancestors since
the fourth and fifth Islamic centuries have celebrated the birth of our beloved
by enlivening the eve of his birth by various pious acts such as feeding the
poor, reciting Qur’an, invoking, singing religious odes, especially odes in
praise of him. This has been documented
by many of the historians such as Shaykh al-Hafizh (r.a.), Imam ibn Jawzi (r.a.),
Hafizh ibn Katsir (r.a.), Shaykh ibn
Dahiyyah al-Andalusi (r.a.), Imam ibn
Hajr (r.a.), and the last of the hufazh Imam as-Suyuthi (r.a.).

Many of the scholars and jurists have composed
treatises describing the religiosity of celebrating the birth of the Prophet (s.a.w.) and discussing the text proofs
for this in such a manner that anyone who is intelligent and of sound mind
cannot deny what our pious ancestors have engaged in. Imam ibn al-Hajj (r.a.), in his Madkhal,
enumerated the uniqueness of this celebration as well as mentioned that which
would give joy to any believer’s heart if reading it, especially knowing that Imam
ibn al-Hajj (r.a.) wrote this book in
order to criticize reprehensible innovation that had no foundation in the shari‘ah.

Imam Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuthi (r.a.) wrote in his Husn al-Maqsid fi ‘Amal al-Mawlid after being asked about the
ruling of celebrating the birth of the Prophet (s.a.w.) during the month of Rabi al-Awwal: “My answer is that the
basis of celebrating the birth of the Prophet (s.a.w.) is people coming together, reciting Qur’an, and reciting
sound traditions concerning the beginnings of the Prophet (s.a.w.) and what occurred during his birth from Qur’anic verses. Then they eat food that has been prepared and
when they finish they leave without doing anything else. This is a praiseworthy innovation which the
person doing it is rewarded for as it is a form of magnifying the rank of the
Prophet (s.a.w.) and a form of
expressing happiness and joy at his noble birth.”

Imam as-Suyuthi (r.a.) also responded to those who say, “We have no knowledge of the
basis of this act from the Qur’an or sunnah”
by responding that the “lack of knowledge of something does not mean its non-existence.”
Imam as-Suyuthi (r.a.) went on further to highlight the opinion of Imam ibn Hajar (r.a.) who found a basis for it from the sunnah, and Imam as-Suyuthi (r.a.) himself found another basis for it
in the sunnah as well making it clear
that reprehensible innovations are ones that cannot be placed under legal
proofs and therefore praised. If,
however, praise is found for them, then they cease to be reprehensible
innovations.

Imam al-Bayhaqi (r.a.) narrated on the authority of Imam ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) who said, “Newly invented matters
are of two kinds: one, something that contradicts the Qur’an, sunnah, tradition, or scholarly
consensus. This is the reprehensible
innovation. The second is a newly
invented matter of goodness of which there is no doubt amongst anyone. This is a newly invented matter that is not
reprehensible. ‘Umar ibn Khaththab (r.a.) said concerning the night prayers
of Ramadhan, ‘What a great innovation this is!’ meaning that it is a newly
invented matter that was not in existence before and in its new existence there
is no negation of that which has come before.”

Imam as-Suyuthi (r.a.) said in light of Imam al-Shafi’i’s (r.a.) quote above that celebrating the birth of the Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.) has no contradiction to the
Quran, sunnah, traditions, or
scholarly consensus and is therefore not a reprehensible innovation as is clear
from Imam ash-Shafi’i’s statement (r.a.).
Rather this act is amongst the pious
acts that were not present during the early generations. Likewise feeding people from food that is free
of any crime is from amongst the pious acts. It is therefore from the innovations that are
recommended as has been stated by the prince of the scholars al-‘Izz ibn ‘Abd
as-Salam (r.a.).

The basis for the gathering of celebrating the
birth of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.)
is a recommended act of drawing near to Allah (s.w.t.) as his birth is the greatest Blessing upon us and the shari’ah has commanded us to express
thanks to Allah (s.w.t.) for His
blessings upon us. This is what Imam ibn
al-Hajj (r.a.) has opined in his al-Madkhal where it is stated: “In this
month, Allah has Blessed us with the greatest of the first and the last,
therefore it is proper that there be an increase in good works, acts of
devotion, and thanksgiving for what Allah has Given us.”

The proof-text used by Imam ibn Hajr (r.a.) is the hadits found in the two Swahih
collections stating that when the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) came to Madina he found the Jews fasting ‘Ashurah so he asked about this and they
said, “This is the day that Allah Caused Pharaoh to drown and Saved Moses so we
fast this day out of thanks to Allah.”

Imam ibn Hajr (r.a.) said, “One can benefit from this text the permissibility of
thanking Allah for something in a certain day as a way of bringing more Blessing
or preventing harm. This sort of thanks
can be reoccurring on the same day every year. Thanks toward Allah can be expressed in the
different ways of acts of worship such as prostration, fasting, charity, and
Qur’anic recitation. And what could be a
greater blessing than the manifestation of this Messenger of mercy in this
specific day?” Imam ibn Hajr (r.a.) further discussed the forms of
celebration that can occur on this specific day by saying, “We should limit
ourselves to those things which are known to be a sign of thanksgiving to Allah
such as recitation of the Qur’an, feeding the poor, singing odes in praise of
the Messenger of Allah which cause the heart to move towards good works in
preparation for the Last Day, and whatever is permissible as a way of showing
thanksgiving there is nothing wrong with adding it to this day.”

Imam as-Suyuthi (r.a.) has quoted the Imam
of Qur’anic recitation, Imam Shams ad-Din ibn al-Jazari (r.a.) from his ‘Urf at-Ta‘arif
bi al-Mawlid ash-Sharif, the following: “It is rigorously authenticated
that Abu Lahab’s punishment in the Hellfire is Reduced every Monday due to his
freeing Tsuwaybah (his slave girl) as a sign of thanksgiving for the birth of
the Messenger of Allah. If this is Abu
Lahab, the disbeliever whom the Qur’an has Damned and his punishment is allowed
to be lessened as a result of his happiness for the birth of the Messenger of Allah,
then what is the state of the believer from the followers of the Prophet who is
happy with his birth and spends all he can in expressing this love? Indeed his Reward would be to be Admitted to Paradise
by Allah.”

As there is no doubt that the birth of the
Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) is from
the days of Allah (s.w.t.). Therefore celebrating it is nothing but a form
of obeying this Command, and whatever is likewise cannot be considered a
reprehensible innovation, rather it is a good sunnah even if it be something not found during the time of the
Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.). We celebrate the birth of the Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.) because we love him, and how
can we not love him as all of Creation knows and loves him such as the tree
stump which is an inanimate object, but it loved the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) and was attached to him and
longed to be with him to the point that it cried extensively out of longing. This story has been narrated by diffuse
congruence and its veracity is unquestioned. Many of the companions reported that, “He used
to deliver his sermons standing leaning on the stump of a palm tree which was
standing straight. If his sermon was
long he would place his blessed hand on that stump. When the number of people praying increased,
the companions built him a pulpit. When
he left his blessed room one Friday going to the pulpit and he passed the stump
he used to use for his sermons, the tree stump cried out a great cry and it
moaned a great moan until the entire mosque was shaken and the tree stump split
and it did not let up until the Messenger of Allah descended from the pulpit,
went to it, and wiped his hands over it until he hugged it and brought it close
to his chest and it quieted. He then
allowed it to make a choice: either it could be planted in paradise and drink
from the waters of paradise, or it could be planted in this world, and the tree
stump chose paradise and the Messenger of Allah said, ‘So be it, Allah Willing;
so be it, Allah Willing; so be it, Allah Willing.’ And the tree stump seized and the Messenger of
Allah said, ‘By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, if I did not attend to it, it
would have cried and moaned until the coming of the Hour longing for the
Messenger of Allah.’”

From all that has preceded from the words of
the great scholars such as Imam ibn Hajr (r.a.),
Imam ibn Jawzi (r.a.), Imam as-Suyuthi
(r.a.), and others it is clear that
this has been the situation of the greater Muslim community since the 5th
Hijri century. We can see that
celebrating the birth of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) is an encouraged act in congruence with the opinions of the
scholars, and that this celebration should be by reciting Qur’an, invocations,
feeding the poor. Doubt concerning the
celebration of the birth of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) should not be taken from those who dance lewdly and do
other things. Nor is the contention of
those who have gone astray by denying this scholarly consensus as this
celebration is not too much for the Prophet of Mercy (s.a.w.), the Beloved of Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. We conclude by the words of Imam al-Buswiri’s
(q.s.) poem, al-Burdah: